Below the Horizon
by Steff Meyer the 2nd
Summary: What if Edward was a vulnerable human? What if Bella was a strong vampire who had to fight for love? Here's the story of Edward and Bella, a human and a vampire. Please read and review! I know it might sound boring, but my friends say its fabulous!


**Chapter One**

**First Sight**

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My father drove me to the airport, with the windows rolled down. I looked up at the perfect, cloudless, blue Phoenix sky. I wore my usual outfit, a plain white t-shirt and sweats. I heard it

was very cold all the way up in Forks, WA, and so I brought a parka as my carry-on item. I knew it was a little extreme, but I wasn't sure exactly HOW cold Forks would be. I mean, I hadn't

been there since I was a child. Forks resides in the Olympic Peninsula, in a small corner in Wahington State. It'd the kind of town where everyone knows everyone in town, and new people

really tend to stick out, the WORST type of town. Also, news travels fast, really fast. Which means that most of Fork's residents already know that I'm coming. Ugh, this was going to be

horrible. I was going to miss Phoenix, the warm, always sunny air, the cloudless skies, but most of all, I was going to miss Charlie. Although he wasn't the greatest dad in the world, and I

was usually the 'father' of our pair, I loved him to death. I loved the early-morning yoga sessions with him, the diets he made me go on with him, and the oter activited and extreme

sports he made me participate in. God, I loved him. But I had to leave Phoenix. My step-mom was trying to get a job in the softball buisiness, and they were going to be traveling a lot. I

didn't want to slow them down, and I also didn't really have any interest in traveling around the country with her. I liked her a lot, but I really wish she would stop trying to act like m

mother. She's not my mother. I hadn't been to Forks since I was small. My dad left Renee with me only a few months after I was born. I used to spend a month there every summer with

Renee. I hadn't been there for more than 4 years, though. When I was 13, I grew tired of dreary old Forks and decidedto spend 2 weeks vacationing in Texas with my mom instead. I was

now going to be living the rest of my high school career there. I hated Forks. I hated the rain. I hated my life.

My dad looked towards me with a lok of pity on his face. "Ed," he said to me before I got on the plane, "You don't need to do this." My dad looks a lot like me, but he has shorter and

thinning hair and huge dimples. I hated seeing Charlie so sad. How would he be able to fend for himself and Christy, my stepmom? I mean this is my erratic, hair-brained father we're

talking about. He didn't look worried about himself, though. He looked worried about me. Just like Charlie. Never caring about himself. I was going to miss him. But I did need to do this. I

couldn't hold Christy and Charlie back from their dreams. I just couldn't. So yes, I did have to do this. "Don't worry, I want to go. I've been wanting to see Renee and I haven't been to

Forks in forever." I said witha fake smile plastered on my face. It appeared like he believed me, because he just smiled back and said, "Tell Renee I said hi." But I could see the tears he was trying to hold back.I just nodded and hugged him.

"Don't worry,"I assured him fort he second time. He always worried. "I'll be fine." And with that I waved and hugged him goodbbye one more time and thn I was on my way to Forks,

dreary glum Forks. It took me 5 hours and two planes, but I eventually made it to Forks. Renee was waiting for me with the cruiser. Since she was sheriff, of course she had to have a

police car, even though nothing ever happened in on the NOTHING. Renee pulled me into a bone-crunching hug the second that my feet touched the ground. "It's great to s

ee you, Ed!" she yelled. She was so happy. Maybe Forks wouldn't be that bad... It was about time that I went to see my mom. I tripped on my own two feet and Renee caught and

steadied me. "Always the klutz," she murmured, with a grin on her face. Even though she was insulting me, I still felt the urge to laugh. "So, how's Charlie been?" she asked in a sweet,

motherly tone. "Dad'sdoing great. But I'm so happy that I get to stay with you for a while!" I gushed with fake enthusiam. I truly was becoming a better liar by the minute because, of

course, she believed me. She looked so excited that I was surprised she wasn't bouncing off the walls. After loading my bags into the cruiser, we began the one-hour drive to her small

house in Forks. She looked at the road the whole time, looking very guilty, if I might add. Finally, when we were almost to the house she spoke up. "Well, Eddie. I found a great car for

you. Super cheap!" she stated with excitement, still a small tinge of guilt in her voice. I was wary.

"What kind of car?" I pushed, suspicious now. She had said a goodcar for me instead of just a plain good car. I hoped it wasn't yellow.

"A truck, actually, a Chevy." A Chevy. Those cost at least a thousand. I really hoped she hadn't paid that muchfor me. "Where did you find this truck?" I asked her, very suspicious. I swear

if she found it for more than a thousand, I was taking it back and demanding a refund. "Do you remember Beth Black from down at La Push?" La Push... Oh! la Push was that small indian

reservation ont he coast. "Not really, sorry." I apoligized. I was kind of embarrased that I didn't remember someone from a few years ago. "We used to go boating with she and her

daughter, Joni Black." she pushed, trying to make me remember. I thought for a very long time, until I finally remembered. It was like something just snapped inside of my head. "Oh ya!" I

blurted, finally remembering. "Yes. Well, she's in a wheelchair, now." I put a genuine look of concern on my face. Poor Beth. She had always been so kind to my moth. My mom just nodded

and continued, "so, she can't drive anymore and she decided to sell her truck cheap!" My mom squealed, excited yet again.

"How cheap?" I asked through narrow eyes.

"I kind of already bought it, but she sold it free!" Well, I guess that's a once-in-a-lifetime deal, so I suppose I would take the truck. I mean, how bad could a Chevy be? The house came

into view. I was still surprised b how freakishly green it was. Almost like an alien planet. The house had branches covering some of it. It looked almost like a fairytale. I had spent so much

time dreading the Forks weather that I had forgoten how beautiful it truly was. Then I saw the ruck. Free? It was amazing. A nice old one, but still, I mean, they probably didn't even

make these anymore. I jumped out of the still-moving car to go and get a closer look. "I love it! Thank you!" I yelled. I really did. It was so amazing. Just because it was old didn't mean it

was a dead car. My mom smiled at me. "I'm glad you like it." she said, with a smile still on her face. After I finished meeting my new car, I ran into the house, truly excited now. There was

only one bathroom, that I would have to share with Renee. I ran into my old room. I saw that it had red walls and a plain black sheets with white guitars on it. There was also a white

dresser with a few pictures of my mom and I. It was actually kid of cool. I even think Renee decorated herself. My mom was pretty OK. She really was kind of coolcompared to other moms,

though she couldn't cook to save her life. She burned water. I loved the fact that she didn't hover over me, though. She just left me to unpack and get settled into my new room. Since it

was already nighttime, I decided to just go to sleep once I finished unpacking. I was dreading the next morning, my first day at Forks High. I woke up feeling very tiredadnlooked out the

window. The only thing in sight was a thick haze of fog. I went downstairs and startd cooking Renee and I eggs. Breakfast was quiet. I could tell Renee could feel the tension coming off

me and didn't want to disturb me. I lloved her even more for that. After breakfast, I went upstairs and began getting ready. I put on a Muscle T and jeans, not a very fancy look, as

always. I realized what time it was and raced out to my truck murmuring a quick goodbye to Renee. I had never related well to people my age, probably because I had to take care of

Charlie since I was small, so I was not looking forward to today. Forks was such a small town that everything was on highway, so the school wasn't hard to find. I just turned at the sign

that said _Forks High School. _After parking, I took a deep breath and walked out of my old truck. I was relieved to see that my truck wouldn't attract much attention here. The best car int

he parking lot was a shiny silver Volvo. The only thing that might stand out was the booming engine of my car. I walked into the Administration's Office and was greeted by a plain woman

with red hair. "May I help you?" she asked politely. I nodded. "I'm Edward Swan. The new kid." I saw a glint of interest in her yes. Of course I was a topic of gossip. I was the son of the

Chief's ex-husband, quite an interesting topic to some people, apparently. "Of course," she said with a smile plastered on her face. She dug around in her desk until she found two pieces

of thick, colored paper. She held out the pink piece of paper. "Here's your schedule," she told me. She then handed me another sheet, "and this right here is a map of the school. I

thanked her after she showed me the best route on the school map to each of my classes, and gave me a slip to have my teachers sign which I would then bring back to her at the end of

the day. As I walked back out into the parking lot to recieve my truck, I was glad to see that more students were finally arriving. I followed the line of traffic into a larger parking lot, in the

front of the main school building. I parked it in a spot a few cars away from the Volvo that I had seen earlier. I tried to hide in my black hoodie. It didn;t stand out much with the dark grey

fog around me. I finally found the building marked '3', where my first class was. I took a deeop breath before opening the door to a small classroom with hooks to hang your jackets on in

the front of the class. Nearly everyone in the class was as pale as me, some even paler. I didn't even know that was possible. I walked to the teacher's desk at the back of the room, all

eyes on me. The name plate on his desk identified him as . He stared at me when he saw my name. Oh, great. I had already learned everything that we went over, so I was

pretty bored the whole class. The bell was a nasal buzzing sound, and when it rang, a girl with straight black hair and acne leaned over to me. "You're Edward Swan, right?" she asked.

"Eddie," I corrected her. She just nodded. "So, where's your next class?" she asked. She seemed like the helpful, chess-playing sort. I looked at my schedule.

"Government with Jefferson." I answered. Everyone was staring and eavesdropping on our conversation, now.

Her face lit up, obviously an idea had come to her. "I'm in building four next hour, since it's close to six, I could show you the way." she said, overly cheerful if you ask me, "I'm Erin, by the

way." I just nodded and put on a smile that wasn't 100% fake. "Thanks, Erin." I said, thankful for her kindness. We got our jackets and started walking into the rain. She made small talk

about Phoenix, and, of course, she asked how I wasn't tan. "My mother is part albino," I answered. The confusion was swept off her face. Most of the d, talkative ay went by prettyfast. I

met a nice, talkative girl, Jessica, during Trigonometry, and she asked me to sit with she and her friends at lunch. She introduced me to everyone, though one of them was Erin, who I

had aready met. There was Mike. He seemed pretty nice and said he could show meto my next class, biology. Anthony also seemed pretty nice. He acted so innocent though, like a little

church boy, not that that's a bad thing. Taireece seemed a little strange, but still, she was pretty nice. Lastly, there was Beth. I could see that Anthony liked her, jsut by the way he

looked at her. I'd have to talk to them again later. I was there, in the lunchroom, when I first saw them. They were in the opposite corner of the cafeteria, sitting as far away as possible

from me. None of them were talking or eating, though they each had a full tray of food in front of them. They weren't watching me, like all of the other students in the school were, so it

was safe to stare. They were all extraordinarily beautiful. They had interesting eyes, a dark gold color, and they didn't look at all alike. One of the two boys was huge, not fat, but muscled

like a weight lifer. He had dark, curly hair. Another one was taller and leaner, though he was still very muscular. He had blonde hair and th same strange golden eyes, and wore a look of

pain on his face. There were also three girls at the table. They were amazingly gorgeous, all three of them. One was an average-heighted blonde, with beautiful curly hair that fell in

wisps down to her waist. The second was freakishly short, though still beautiful. She was strangely pixie-like and always looked like she was about to bounce off the seat. She was short,

jet-black hair that was flipped at the ends. The last was amazing. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had long, brown, wavy hair to her waist, and a face that would

put any model to shame. I couldn't do anything but just stand there and gawk at her. They were all so different, and yet still so similar, and all of them were so devastatingly, inhumanly

beautiful. I elbowed Mike, still staring at them. "Who _are _they?" I asked, still gawking. As he turned to answer my question, already seeing who I meant, the beautiful brunette looked at

him as if he had just caled her name. She locked eyes with him for about half a second then turned her gaze to me. She looked away very quickly, but I had already dropped my eyes in

embarrassmnet for being caught. Mike was also looking at the table when I finally knew that she wasn't looking anymore. He looked up seconds after I did. "Those are the Cullens." he

said like he had some top secret information. It was obvious that these "Cullens" were once a large topic of interest and gossip. "That's Emmett, Alice, and Bella Cullen." He said pointing

the big one out as Emmett, the little pixie-like girl as Alice, and the brunette beauty as Bella. "And that's Jasper and Rosalie Hale." He pointed out the pained one and the blonde. I braved

a sideways glance at Bella and saw that she was absently picking at a brownie, her lips moving the slightest bit. The rest of the family looked away, though it still seemed that she was

quietly talking to them. Mike continued, "They all live with Dr and Mrs. Cullen somewhere barely out of town. No one's ever been there." They all had strange names, for this time in

history at least. Bella and Alice are the only two names that I've heard of before. "Well, ummm... They're all pretty... nice looking." I felt embarrased saying it, but it was true. They were

all incredibly nice-looking, actually. "Uhuh, _pretty_ nice looking." he murmured sarcastically. I nodded. He was right. Jessica joined in our conversation. "They're all togethe, though. Like,

_together_ together. " she emphasized the word together. "Alice and Jasper, and Emmett and Rosalie. But they all _live_ together." she finished. Mike spoke up next, "The blondes-Jasper and

Rosalie- are twins. They're foster children."

"Hmmm. They look a little old to be foster children." I admitted. They finished up telling me the rest of the story about how they're eighteen, but they've been with Carlisle and Esme since

they were eight, and Esme's their aunt. "That's so nice of and his wife. I mean, taking in all those children when they were so young themselves." I thought aloud. Mike and

Jessica just nodded, with what seemed like a hitn of reluctance. I shot a few guarded glances towards the family. They were still just staring absently at the walls and not even touching

their food. "Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked with real curiosity. "No," Mike asnwered this time, shaking his head. "They moved up here from Alaska a few years back." Thank god!

At last I wasn't the only newcomer in Forks. Even though they had been here for a few years, they clearly were not accepted. "Which one is the girl with brown hair?" I asked. "That's

Bella," he answered. Obviously, he had been turned down a few times by her, "She's grogeous, of course. But don't waste your time. Apparently no boys in Forks are good enough for

her." he said. "I mean, not that I care," he said, with a hint of defensiveness in his tone. Lunch continued without any more speak of the strange family, though I did steal a few peeks at

their table. The short one, Alice, if I remember correctly, left about 5 minutes before the rest of their family. Eventually, the rest of the Cullens got up and left the cafeteria, the big, brawny

one leading the way out. I sat and ate with Mike and his friends longer than I had imagined. After lunch was over, Anthony offered to show me to my next class, Biology II with Banner.

One we entered the classroom, Anthony went to go sit at a lab table nearly exactly like the ones we had in Phoenix. Near the center aisle, I recognized Bella Cullen sitting at a lab table

with no one next to her. As I walked past her towards the back of the room to get to sign my slip, she went rigid and grabbed on to the end of the table. She stared at me with

such an expression of hostile hatred, I nearly went into shock. Her eyes were such a dark shade of coal black that it made the death glare even more menacing. I looked quickly away,

barely able to move my feet, and tripped, having to steady myself with a table in the process. Mr. Banner signed the slip and directed me towards a seat right next to Bella after giving me

an old textbook without giving me nonsense about introductions. As I walked over to sit by her, I kept my eyes down, avoiding her gaze. I didn't look up as I set my book down on the

table and took a seat, though I did see her posture change. She was leaning away from me, on the very edge of her seat. I sniffed my hair to see if I smelled bad. I didn't think so. I

shook my hair out, though, just to make sure I didn't miss anything that had gotten stuck in it at lunch or something. I noticed her stiffen next to me. Sadly, the class's lecture was about

cellular anatomy, something I had already learned about in Phoenix, though I still took notes and tried to pay attention to the teacher. Anything to keep my attention off the gorgeous girl

that looked like she wanted to kill me sitting next to me. The lecture seemed to drag on longer than the other classes of the day, probably because Bella was still rigid next to me, eith a

look of diguston her face. Finally, the bell rang loudly. Thank god. I jumped out of my seat and walked out of the classroom, thankful that I wasn't isolated with that Cullen anymore. Gym

seemed pretty quick, though it usually seemed like the longest subject of the day since anything athletci was a challenge for me. After the bell rang, I drove back to the main office to give

the receptionist back the slip that all my teachers had signed. _She_ was there, arguing with the recpetionist. She stiffened and turned back to glare at me. It was a quick glare, but it

seemed to chill my bones. "Never mind then." she said between her teeth, "I see that it's impossible." She stormed out of the office at a quick pace. I was bewildered, but I forced my legs

to walk up to the woman and handed her the slip. "How'd your first day go, sweetie?" she asked in a motherly tone. "Good," I lied, my voice cracking a little. And with tthat I walked out of

the office and drove home, fighting tears the whole way.

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**Authors POV: I do not own Twilight, or any of the character ideas in my FanFic.**

**Here's a list of who each of the characters are supposed to be.I decided to switch some of the genders to correctly go with the switch of Edward and Bella.**

**Erin: Eric**

**Mike: Mike**

**Jessica: Jessica**

**Anthony: Angela**

**Beth: Ben**

**Tairece: Tyler**

**Please Review! I will not update until I have at least three reviews! **


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